Friction shock-absorbing mechanism.



J. F. OCONNOR.

Fmclorv SHOCK Asonm MECHAMSM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 2l. W18. LQQSJTM 'Hmmm Apr, 1, 11919.

Z- SHEETS-SHEET specification, Figure l GHAZY, NEW YORK.

FRCTEUN SHOCK-ABSGRBNG MECEAl'SM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

'Patented npr. l, i919.

Application tiled September 2l, 1918.. Serial No. 52550913.

To all whom it' may concern:

Be it known that l, JOHN F. OCONNOR, a citizen of the United States,residing at lflhicag'o, in the county of Cool: and State of Illinois,have invented a certain new and useful improvement in FrictionShock-Absorbingr Mechanism, of which the following is a full, clear.concise, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyning drawings, forming a part of this specie ication.

This invention relates to improvements in friction shock absorbingmechanism.`

@ne object of the invention is to provide a high capacity friction shockVabsorbing mechanism having a preliminary spring action. V

Another object of the invention is to pro vide a friction mechanismemploying a friction shell. having coiperahle friction elements and aspring' casing. the arrangement 'being` such .that the shell andelements move in unison (or remain stationary, dependent upon the mannerin which 'the n'lechanism is actuated) 'during the preliminary action.

Another and more speciiic object of the invention is to provide amechanism accomplishing all of the above indicated results and whereinat the same time the friction shell is readily detachable to provide forrenewal or repairs to thus minimize cost of upkeep. l

in the drawing forming a part of this is a longitudinal, horizontal.sectional view of a portion of a railway draft rig-ging showingr mvimprovements in connection Jtherewith. Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical,transverse, sectional views taken on the lines 2--2 and Sl,respectively, of Fig. l.

T" is a View similar to Fig. l. with.

olren away, illustrating my invention as applied to a buffer forpassenger car equipment. 5 is an innocenti. elevational View of thefollower shown with the ou'lfer in Fig. l-. Fig. 6 is a detailedperspective of the friction cylinder. detached. And Fig. i is a detailedperspective oi the spring casingr and illustrates more particun larlythe manner of connecting the lfriction shell and spring casing toprovide preliminary movement. l

In said drawing, and referring first to the construction illustrated inFigs. l, 2, 6 and 7, lll-10 denote channel-shaped draft sills of arailway car to the inner faces of which are secured front and rear lugsll-ll. The mechanism proper, hereinafter described, is operativelyconnected to the draw bar l2 'by any suitable means, such as the yokestrap 13, and allthe parts are siipported hy a detachable saddle plate14. in the a1'- rangement shown, a front follower lois employed, thesame being interposed between the draw bar and the mechanism proper.

The friction mechanism comprises,

broadly, a spring casing A. a friction shell l, twin main springs C--C,a plurality of friction shoes D, a wedge E, a spring follower F, anexpansion spring G and a retaining holt H.

The spring casing A is of generally ce@ tangular formation with thesides thereof open so as to permit the lateral insertion of` the mainsprings CQC after the spring follower F is in place. At its forward end,the casing A is rovided on opposite sides thereof with verticallyextending, forwardly' facing shoulders 16e-16 and opposed correspondingrearwardly facing shoulders 17-17, as most clearly shownv in Fig. 7.

The friction shell B is shown of generally cylindrical form and isprovided at its rear end with a iiange portion as indicated at 18, thelatter formingr vertical shoulders on opposite sides thereof, asindicated at r9-19 in Fics. l and 6. The arrangement is snch that theShell is insertihle in a vertical direction between the shoulders 16 and17 of the casing A and the spacing' of the shoulders 16 and 17 isdesigned'so asl to` permit a predetermined amount of lost motion betweenthe shell and casing.

The friction shoes D and wedge E are of well known form, the shoesheine; circularly arranged within the shell B and the wedge extendingoutwardlv beyond the shoes. A plurality of anti-friction rollers 20 isein? `ployed between the wedge and shoes. v

The follower F is provided with a for1rd wardly extending annular flange21 which extends through a corresponding opening inI the frontwall ofthe casing A and normally into the rear end of the shell B. In thismanner. the follower F serves to prevent accidental displacement of theshell B relatively to the casing A after the parts are once assembled.In thedrawing, a slight.

clearance. is shown between. said annular' flange 2l. andthe rear endsof the friction shoes l). This slight amount of clearance,4

' which is designed primarily to compensate for any wear on the parts,will be taken up immediately upon compression of the gear before thegear proper actually comes into operation. The spring G- is interposedhe- 1 tweenthe follower F and a 'washer Q2 which 'bears against inwardlyextending shoulders shell and associated elements is resisted by themain springs C-C so that a true preliminary spring action is obtained.rlihis preliminary spring action. continues until the friction shellengages with the shoulder 16 of the casingv A, whereupon the frictionelements will be moved relatively to the shell and th s create a muchgreater frictional resistance. From the above described action,

`it will, of course, be understood that the slight relative movementbetween the iiange 2l. andthe shoes D is not considered, as this is sosmall as to not aifeet the operation of the mechanism. In draft, it willbe evident that a similar result is obtained with the movement of theparts reversed.

Referring now to the construction illustrated more )articularly in Figs.i to 7, it will be note that the arrangenunt' of friction shell, springrcasing, friction elements and main springs is the same as that shown inFigs. 1, 2 and In order, however, to adapt my improved construction fora buffer for passenger car equipment, I employ an outer cap or springfollower 40 having an inwardly extemling cylindrical shell portion 4l,which is adapted to telescope over the friction shell B. Within theshell 41 is a, preliminary spring l2 that bears 'at its rear end againstthe forward edge of the shell ll. The forward portion of the spring 42is lseated over an inwardly extending boss or cup 43 formed on thefollower 4-0. IThe cup or boss 43 is adapted to engage with the Wedge Eof the friction mechanism proper after the sprii'ip; 42 has beencompressed. In this connection, it will be understood that the springr42 is employed primarily to hold the diaphragm plate of the 'vestibulediaphragm construction in tight engagement With a adjacent diaphragmface plate of the next car and does not, in reality, absorb any of thebuliing or starting shocks. As

Lessors will be evident, the operation of the shock absorbing mechanismproper is identical with that shown in Fig. l and need not here berepeated.

lli/ith the arrangement above described, it is evident that l obtain aneasy graduated action with an ultimate high capacity and at the sametime the friction. shell may be readily renewed and the cost of repairsmini mized. 'lhe detachable connection with the lost motion between theshell and casing lends itself readily to commercial manufacture by vfoundry f,processes and hence is adapted to keep down the initialproduction cost. Furthernuire, it is evident that the friction mechanismproper which l have pro vided, can be used without change in a bufferfor passenger cars by merely adding a pri mary spring and cap 'ihemechanism is thus capable of wide use and gives the desirable graduatedeasy action on either freight or passenger equipment.

' I claim:

l. ln a friction shock absorbing mechanism, the combination with aspring casing open at one end thereof, of a friction shell disposed atsaid open end ofv the casing, cooperating shoulders on said shell andeasing adapting the shell for a limited amount of movement with respectto the casing, friction elements coperable with said shell, spring meansdisposed within the iusing, and a fole lower at the end 'of said springmeans adja-y cent the shell, said follower having a flange extendingthrough the open end of the easing and into the shell, saidflange'preventing accidental disengagement of the shell and casing.

Q. In a friction shock absorbing mechanism, the combination with aspring easing open at its sides and at one end, of spring means withinsaid casing' and adapted to be inserted through the onen sides thereof,a friction shell, said shell and casing,r having coperable shoulderspermitting a predetermined amount of'relative movement between the.shell and easing, the shell being assembled with the casing by movementtransversely of the latter, friction elen'ients cope able with theshell. and a follower adapted to be inserted through said open sides ofthe casing, located between some of said f elements and said springmeans, the friction elements and shell and said follower moving bodilyas a unit relatively to the casingT and ,compressing the spring meansfor a predetermined amount, the friction elements being thereaftermovable with respect to the shell and resisted by said spring means,said follower having means' thereon extending into the shell to preventmovement of the latter transversely-'relatively to the casing aftertheparts are assembled.

3. l'n a friction shock absorbingl mechanism, the combination with aspring casing having :in en'well with :m opening therein, said easingbeing provided Witli sets or spaced shoulders adwcent seid opening andon the outeirside of said Wall, of e friction shell heving'iaterellyextended shoulders on opposite sides il-liereoi, seid shell being adapted te be assembled with said casing by mow ing the shell transversely,of the easing with the shoulders `yoi the shell between said sets.

Wall of the casing, friction elements coperable with seid shell, springmeans disposed within the casing, and means normally extending throughsaid end Well opening of spring casing into the interior O the adjacentend 01"' the Shell and bridging the space between said end. Wall andshell, said means preventingeeeidental movement of leslie shell itransversely relatively bo the casing.

In Witness that Gleim the feregomg have hereunto subscribed my neme liis28th vday of Aug. 1918.

semi ir. eeermee.

